An EMPEROR (through
Old FrenchOld French empereor from Latin IMPERATOR ) is a
monarch , usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of
imperial realm. EMPRESS, the female equivalent, may indicate an
emperor's wife (empress consort ), mother (empress dowager ), or a
woman who rules in her own right (empress regnant ). Emperors are
generally recognized to be of a higher honour and rank than kings . In
EuropeEurope the title of
EmperorEmperor has been used since the
Middle AgesMiddle Ages ,
considered in those times equal or almost equal in dignity to that of
PopePope , due to the latter's position as visible head of the Church and
spiritual leader of the Catholic part of Western
EuropeEurope . The Emperor
of Japan is the only currently reigning monarch whose title is
translated into English as "Emperor".

Both kings and emperors are monarchs , but emperor and empress are
considered the higher monarchical titles. In as much as there is a
strict definition of emperor, it is that an emperor has no relations
implying the superiority of any other ruler, and typically rules over
more than one nation. Thus a king might be obliged to pay tribute to
another ruler, or be restrained in his actions in some unequal
fashion, but an emperor should in theory be completely free of such
restraints. Monarchs heading empires, however, have not always used
the title in all contexts— the British sovereign did not assume the
title "Empress of the British Empire" even during the incorporation of
India though she was declared "Empress of India".

In Western
EuropeEurope the title of
EmperorEmperor was used exclusively by the
Holy Roman EmperorHoly Roman Emperor , whose imperial authority was derived from the
concept of translatio imperii , i.e. they claimed succession to the
authority of the Western Roman Emperors , thus linking themselves to
Roman institutions and traditions as part of state ideology. Although
initially ruling much of Central
EuropeEurope and northern Italy, by the
19th century the
EmperorEmperor exercised little power beyond the German
speaking states. Although technically an elective title, by the late
16th century16th century the imperial title had in practice come to be inherited
by the
HabsburgHabsburgArchdukes of AustriaArchdukes of Austria and, following the Thirty Years\'
War , their control over the states (outside of the
HabsburgHabsburg Monarchy
, i.e. Austria , Bohemia , and various territories outside of the
empire) had become nearly non-existent. However, in 1804 Napoleon
Bonaparte was crowned
EmperorEmperor of the French, and was shortly followed
by Francis II,
Holy Roman EmperorHoly Roman Emperor , who to declared himself
EmperorEmperor of
Austria in the same year; however, the position of Holy Roman Emperor
continued until Francis II abdicated that position in 1806.

In Eastern
EuropeEurope the rulers of the Russian
EmpireEmpire also used
translatio imperii to wield imperial authority as successors to the
Eastern Roman
EmpireEmpire . Their title of
EmperorEmperor was officially
recognised by the
Holy Roman EmperorHoly Roman Emperor in 1514, although not officially
used by the Russian monarchs until 1547. In practice the Russian
Emperors are often known by their Russian-language title
TsarTsar , which
may also used to refer to rulers equivalent to a king.

Historians have liberally used emperor and empire anachronistically
and out of its Roman and European context to describe any large state
from the past or the present. Such pre-Roman titles as "Great
KingKing "
or "
KingKing of Kings ", used by the Kings of
PersiaPersia and others, are often
considered as the equivalent. Sometimes this reference has even
extended to non-monarchically ruled states and their spheres of
influence such as the "Athenian
EmpireEmpire " of the late 5th century BC,
the "Angevin
EmpireEmpire " of the
Plantagenets , and the Soviet and
American "empires" of the
Cold WarCold War era. However such "empires" did not
need to be headed by an "emperor".
EmpireEmpire became identified instead
with vast territorial holdings rather than the title of its ruler by
the mid-18th century.

For purposes of protocol, emperors were once given precedence over
kings in international diplomatic relations; currently, however,
precedence amongst heads of state who are Sovereigns– whether they
be Kings, Queens, Emperors, Princes, and to a lesser degree Presidents
– is determined by the duration of time that each one has been
continuously in office.

Outside the European context, emperor was the translation given to
holders of titles who were accorded the same precedence as European
emperors in diplomatic terms. In reciprocity, these rulers might
accredit equal titles in their native languages to their European
peers. Through centuries of international convention, this has become
the dominant rule to identifying an emperor in the modern era.

In the Roman tradition a large variety in the meaning and importance
of the imperial form of monarchy developed: in intention it was always
the highest office, but it could as well fall down to a redundant
title for nobility that had never been near to the "Empire" they were
supposed to be reigning. Also the name of the position split in
several branches of Western tradition, see below.

The importance and meaning of coronation ceremonies and regalia also
varied within the tradition: for instance Holy Roman Emperors could
only be crowned emperor by the
PopePope , which meant the coronation
ceremony usually took place in Rome, often several years after these
emperors had ascended to the throne (as "king") in their home country.
The first Latin Emperors of
ConstantinopleConstantinople on the other hand had to be
present in the newly conquered capital of their empire, because that
was the only place where they could be granted to become emperor.

Early Roman Emperors avoided any type of ceremony or regalia
different from what was already usual for republican offices in the
Roman RepublicRoman Republic : the most intrusive change had been changing the color
of their robe to purple. Later new symbols of worldly and/or spiritual
power, like the orb , became an essential part of the imperial
accessories.

Rules for indicating successors also varied: there was a tendency
towards male inheritance of the supreme office, but as well election
by noblemen, as ruling empresses (for empires not too strictly under
salic law ) are known. Ruling monarchs could additionally steer the
succession by adoption, as often occurred in the two first centuries
of Imperial Rome. Of course, intrigue, murder and military force could
also mingle in for appointing successors; the Roman imperial tradition
made no exception to other monarchical traditions in this respect.
Probably the epoch best known for this part of the imperial tradition
is Rome\'s third century rule.

When Republican Rome turned into a de facto monarchy in the second
half of the 1st century BC, at first there was no name for the title
of the new type of monarch. Ancient Romans abhorred the name Rex
("king") , and it was critical to the political order to maintain the
forms and pretenses of republican rule.
Julius CaesarJulius Caesar had been
Dictator , an acknowledged and traditional office in Republican Rome.
Caesar was not the first to hold it, but following his assassination
the term was abhorred in Rome.

AugustusAugustus , considered the first
Roman emperorRoman emperor , established his by
collecting on himself offices, titles, and honours of Republican Rome
that had traditionally been distributed to different people,
concentrating what had been distributed power in one man. One of these
offices was princeps senatus , ("first man of the Senate") and became
changed into Augustus' chief honorific, princeps civitatis ("first
citizen") from which the modern English word and title prince is
descended. The first period of the Roman
EmpireEmpire , from 27 BC – 284
AD, is called the principate for this reason. However, it was the
informal descriptive of
ImperatorImperator ("commander") that became the title
increasingly favored by his successors. Previously bestowed on high
officials and military commanders who had imperium ,
AugustusAugustus reserved
it exclusively to himself as the ultimate holder of all imperium.
(
Imperium is Latin for the authority to command, one of a various
types of authority delineated in Roman political thought.)

Beginning with Augustus,
ImperatorImperator appeared in the title of all Roman
monarchs through the extinction of the
EmpireEmpire in 1453. After the reign
of Augustus' immediate successor
TiberiusTiberius , being proclaimed imperator
was transformed into the act of accession to the head of state . Other
honorifics used by the Roman Emperors have also come to be synonyms
for Emperor:

* CAESAR (as, for example, in
Suetonius ' Twelve Caesars ). This
tradition continued in many languages: in German it became "
KaiserKaiser ";
in certain
Slavic languagesSlavic languages it became "
TsarTsar "; in Hungarian it became
"
Császár ", and several more variants. The name derived from Julius
Caesar 's cognomen "Caesar": this cognomen was adopted by all Roman
emperors, exclusively by the ruling monarch after the Julio-Claudian
dynasty had died out. In this tradition
Julius CaesarJulius Caesar is sometimes
described as the first Caesar/emperor (following Suetonius). This is
one of the most enduring titles, Caesar and its transliterations
appeared in every year from the time of Caesar
AugustusAugustus to
TsarTsar Symeon
II of
BulgariaBulgaria 's removal from the throne in 1946.
* AUGUSTUS was the honorific first bestowed on
EmperorEmperor Augustus:
after him all Roman emperors added it to their name. Although it had a
high symbolical value, something like "elevated" or "sublime", it was
generally not used to indicate the office of
EmperorEmperor itself.
Exceptions include the title of the
Augustan HistoryAugustan History , a
semi-historical collection of Emperors' biographies of the 2nd and 3rd
century.
AugustusAugustus had (by his last will) granted the feminine form of
this honorific (Augusta ) to his wife. Since there was no "title" of
Empress(-consort) whatsoever, women of the reigning dynasty sought to
be granted this honorific, as the highest attainable goal. Few were
however granted the title, and certainly not as a rule all wives of
reigning Emperors.
* IMPERATOR (as, for example, in
Pliny the ElderPliny the Elder 's Naturalis
Historia ). In the
Roman RepublicRoman RepublicImperatorImperator meant "(military)
commander". In the late Republic, as in the early years of the new
monarchy,
ImperatorImperator was a title granted to Roman generals by their
troops and the
Roman SenateRoman Senate after a great victory, roughly comparable
to field marshal (head or commander of the entire army). For example,
in AD 15
GermanicusGermanicus was proclaimed
ImperatorImperator during the reign of his
adoptive father
TiberiusTiberius . Soon thereafter "Imperator" became however
a title reserved exclusively for the ruling monarch. This led to
"Emperor" in English and, among other examples, "Empereur" in French
and "Mbreti" in Albanian. The Latin feminine form
Imperatrix only
developed after "Imperator" had taken on the connotation of "Emperor".
* AUTOKRATOR (Αὐτοκράτωρ) or BASILEUS (βασιλεύς):
although the Greeks used equivalents of "Caesar" (Καίσαρ,
Kaisar) and "Augustus" (in two forms: transliterated as
Αὔγουστος, Augoustos or translated as Σεβαστός,
Sebastos ) these were rather used as part of the name of the Emperor
than as an indication of the office. Instead of developing a new name
for the new type of monarchy, they used αὐτοκράτωρ
(autokratōr, only partly overlapping with the modern understanding of
"autocrat ") or βασιλεύς (basileus , until then the usual name
for "sovereign "). Autokratōr was essentially used as a translation
of the Latin
ImperatorImperator in Greek-speaking part of the Roman Empire, but
also here there is only partial overlap between the meaning of the
original Greek and Latin concepts. For the Greeks Autokratōr was not
a military title, and was closer to the Latin dictator concept ("the
one with unlimited power"), before it came to mean Emperor. Basileus
appears not to have been used exclusively in the meaning of "emperor"
(and specifically, the Roman/Byzantine emperor) before the 7th
century, although it was a standard informal designation of the
EmperorEmperor in the Greek-speaking East.

Historians generally refer to the continuing Roman
EmpireEmpire in the east
as the Byzantine
EmpireEmpire after
ByzantiumByzantium , the original name of the
town that
Constantine IConstantine I would elevate to the Imperial capital as New
Rome in AD 330. (The city is more commonly called
ConstantinopleConstantinople and
is today named
IstanbulIstanbul ). Although the empire was again subdivided
and a co-emperor sent to Italy at the end of the fourth century, the
office became unitary again only 95 years later at the request of the
Roman SenateRoman Senate and following the death of
Julius Nepos , last Western
Emperor. This change was a recognition of the reality that little
remained of Imperial authority in the areas that had been the Western
Empire, with even Rome and Italy itself now ruled by the essentially
autonomous
OdoacerOdoacer .

These Later Roman "Byzantine" Emperors completed the transition from
the idea of the
EmperorEmperor as a semi-republican official to the Emperor
as an absolute monarch . Of particular note was the translation of the
Latin
ImperatorImperator into the Greek
BasileusBasileus , after
EmperorEmperor Heraclius
changed the official language of the empire from Latin to Greek in AD
620. Basileus, a title which had long been used for
AlexanderAlexander the
Great was already in common usage as the Greek word for the Roman
emperor, but its definition and sense was "King" in Greek, essentially
equivalent with the Latin Rex. Byzantine period emperors also used the
Greek word "autokrator", meaning "one who rules himself", or
"monarch", which was traditionally used by Greek writers to translate
the Latin dictator . Essentially, the Greek language did not
incorporate the nuances of the Ancient Roman concepts that
distinguished imperium from other forms of political power.

In general usage, the Byzantine imperial title evolved from simply
"emperor" (basileus), to "emperor of the Romans" (basileus tōn
Rōmaiōn) in the 9th century, to "emperor and autocrat of the Romans"
(basileus kai autokratōr tōn Rōmaiōn) in the 10th. In fact, none
of these (and other) additional epithets and titles had ever been
completely discarded.

One important distinction between the post
Constantine IConstantine I (reigned AD
306–337) emperors and their pagan predecessors was cesaropapism ,
the assertion that the
EmperorEmperor (or other head of state) is also the
head of the Church. Although this principle was held by all emperors
after Constantine, it met with increasing resistance and ultimately
rejection by bishops in the west after the effective end of Imperial
power there. This concept became a key element of the meaning of
"emperor" in the Byzantine and Orthodox east, but went out of favor in
the west with the rise of
Roman CatholicismRoman Catholicism .

The Byzantine empire also produced three women who effectively
governed the state: the Empress Irene and the Empresses Zoe and
Theodora .

With
ConstantinopleConstantinople occupied, claimants to the imperial succession
styled themselves as emperor in the chief centers of resistance: The
Laskarid dynasty in the
EmpireEmpire of Nicaea , the Komnenid dynasty in the
EmpireEmpire of Trebizond and the Doukid dynasty in the Despotate of Epirus
. In 1248, the Epirus recognized the Nicaean Emperors, who then
recaptured
ConstantinopleConstantinople in 1261. The Trebizond emperor formally
submitted in
ConstantinopleConstantinople in 1281, but frequently flouted
convention by styling themselves emperor back in Trebizond thereafter.

OTTOMAN EMPIRE

Agostino VenezianoAgostino Veneziano 's engraving of Ottoman emperor Suleiman the
Magnificent. Note the four tiers on the helmet, which he had
commissioned from
VeniceVenice , symbolizing his imperial power, and
excelling the three-tiered papal tiara . This tiara was made for
115,000 ducats and offered to Suleiman by the French ambassador
Antonio Rincon in 1532. This was a most atypical piece of headgear
for a Turkish sultan, which he probably never normally wore, but which
he placed beside him when receiving visitors, especially ambassadors.
It was crowned with an enormous feather.

After the Ottoman capture of
ConstantinopleConstantinople in 1453, the Ottoman
sultans began to style themselves KAYSAR-I RUM (
EmperorEmperor of the Romans)
as they asserted themselves to be the heirs to the Roman empire by
right of conquest. The title was of such importance to them that it
led them to eliminate the various Byzantine successor states — and
therefore rival claimants — over the next eight years. Though the
term "emperor" was rarely used by Westerners of the Ottoman sultan, it
was generally accepted by Westerners that he had imperial status.

The Roman of the Emperor's title was a reflection of the translatio
imperii (transfer of rule) principle that regarded the Holy Roman
Emperors as the inheritors of the title of
EmperorEmperor of the Western
Roman
EmpireEmpire , despite the continued existence of the Roman
EmpireEmpire in
the east.

From the time of Otto the Great onward, much of the former
CarolingianCarolingian kingdom of
Eastern Francia became the Holy Roman Empire.
The prince-electors elected one of their peers as
KingKing of the Romans
and
KingKing of Italy before being crowned by the
PopePope . The
EmperorEmperor could
also pursue the election of his heir (usually a son) as King, who
would then succeed him after his death. This junior
KingKing then bore the
title of Roman
KingKing (
KingKing of the Romans). Although technically already
ruling, after the election he would be crowned as emperor by the Pope.
The last emperor to be crowned by the pope was Charles V ; all
emperors after him were technically emperors-elect, but were
universally referred to as Emperor.

The title lasted just a little over one century until 1918, but it
was never clear what territory constituted the "
EmpireEmpire of Austria ".
When Francis took the title in 1804, the
HabsburgHabsburg lands as a whole
were dubbed the Kaisertum Österreich. Kaisertum might literally be
translated as "emperordom" (on analogy with "kingdom") or
"emperor-ship"; the term denotes specifically "the territory ruled by
an emperor", and is thus somewhat more general than
ReichReich , which in
1804 carried connotations of universal rule. Austria proper (as
opposed to the complex of
HabsburgHabsburg lands as a whole) had been an
Archduchy since the 15th century, and most of the other territories of
the
EmpireEmpire had their own institutions and territorial history,
although there were some attempts at centralization, especially during
the reign of Marie Therese and her son Joseph II and then finalized in
the early 19th century. When Hungary was given self-government in
1867, the non-Hungarian portions were called the
EmpireEmpire of Austria and
were officially known as the "Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the
Imperial Council (Reichsrat)". The title of
Emperor of AustriaEmperor of Austria and the
associated
EmpireEmpire were both abolished at the end of the First World
War in 1918, when
German AustriaGerman Austria became a republic and the other
kingdoms and lands represented in the Imperial Council established
their independence or adhesion to other states.

EMPERORS OF EUROPE

ByzantiumByzantium 's close cultural and political interaction with its Balkan
neighbors
BulgariaBulgaria and
SerbiaSerbia , and with Russia (Kievan Rus', then
Muscovy) led to the adoption of Byzantine imperial traditions in all
of these countries.

BULGARIA

In 913, Simeon I of
BulgariaBulgaria was crowned
EmperorEmperor (
TsarTsar ) by the
Patriarch of
ConstantinopleConstantinople and imperial regent Nicholas Mystikos
outside of the Byzantine capital. In its final simplified form, the
title read "
EmperorEmperor and Autocrat of all Bulgarians and Romans" (
TsarTsar i
samodarzhets na vsichki balgari i gartsi in the modern vernacular).
The Roman component in the Bulgarian imperial title indicated both
rulership over Greek speakers and the derivation of the imperial
tradition from the Romans, however this component was never recognised
by the Byzantine court.

Byzantine recognition of Simeon's imperial title was revoked by the
succeeding Byzantine government. The decade 914–924 was spent in
destructive warfare between
ByzantiumByzantium and
BulgariaBulgaria over this and other
matters of conflict. The Bulgarian monarch, who had further irritated
his Byzantine counterpart by claiming the title "
EmperorEmperor of the
Romans" (basileus tōn Rōmaiōn), was eventually recognized, as
"
EmperorEmperor of the Bulgarians" (basileus tōn Boulgarōn) by the
Byzantine EmperorByzantine Emperor Romanos I Lakapenos in 924. Byzantine recognition of
the imperial dignity of the Bulgarian monarch and the patriarchal
dignity of the Bulgarian patriarch was again confirmed at the
conclusion of permanent peace and a Bulgarian-Byzantine dynastic
marriage in 927. In the meantime, the Bulgarian imperial title may
have been also confirmed by the pope . The Bulgarian imperial title
"tsar" was adopted by all Bulgarian monarchs up to the fall of
BulgariaBulgaria under Ottoman rule. 14th-century Bulgarian literary
compositions clearly denote the Bulgarian capital (Tarnovo ) as a
successor of Rome and
ConstantinopleConstantinople , in effect, the "Third Rome".

After
BulgariaBulgaria obtained full independence from the Ottoman
EmpireEmpire in
1908, its monarch, who was previously styled Knyaz, , took the
traditional title of
TsarTsar and was recognized internationally as such.

FRANCE

The kings of the
Ancien RégimeAncien Régime and the July
Monarchy used the title
Empereur de France in diplomatic correspondence and treaties with the
Ottoman emperor from at least 1673 onwards. The Ottomans insisted on
this elevated style while refusing to recognize the Holy Roman
Emperors or the Russian tsars because of their rival claims of the
Roman crown . In short, it was an indirect insult by the Ottomans to
the HRE and the Russians. The French kings also used it for Morocco
(1682) and
PersiaPersia (1715).

First French Empire

See also: First French
EmpireEmpire One of the most famous Imperial
coronation ceremonies was that of Napoleon, crowning himself Emperor
in the presence of
PopePope Pius VII (who had blessed the regalia ), at
the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris .
The painting by David commemorating the event is equally famous: the
gothic cathedral restyled style
EmpireEmpire , supervised by the mother of
the
EmperorEmperor on the balcony (a fictional addition, while she had not
been present at the ceremony), the pope positioned near the altar,
NapoleonNapoleon proceeds to crown his then wife,
Joséphine de BeauharnaisJoséphine de Beauharnais as
Empress.

On 26 February 1815,
NapoleonNapoleon abandoned
ElbaElba for France, reviving the
French
EmpireEmpire for a
Hundred DaysHundred Days ; the Allies declared an end to
Napoleon's sovereignty over
ElbaElba on 25 March 1815, and on 31 March
1815
ElbaElba was ceded to the restored
Grand Duchy of Tuscany by the
Congress of Vienna. After his final defeat,
NapoleonNapoleon was treated as a
general by the British authorities during his second exile to Atlantic
Isle of
St. HelenaSt. Helena . His title was a matter of dispute with the
governor of St Helena, who insisted on addressing him as "General
Bonaparte", despite the "historical reality that he had been an
emperor" and therefore retained the title.

The origin of the title
ImperatorImperator totius Hispaniae (Latin for Emperor
of All Spain ) is murky. It was associated with the Leonese monarchy
perhaps as far back as
Alfonso the Great (r. 866–910). The last two
kings of its
Astur-Leonese dynasty were called emperors in a
contemporary source.

The title was not exactly hereditary but self-proclaimed by those who
had, wholly or partially, united the Christian northern part of the
Iberian PeninsulaIberian Peninsula , often at the expense of killing rival siblings.
The popes and Holy Roman emperors protested at the usage of the
imperial title as a usurpation of leadership in western Christendom.
After Alfonso VII's death in 1157, the title was abandoned, and the
kings who used it are not commonly mentioned as having been
"emperors", in Spanish or other historiography.

After the fall of the Byzantine Empire, the legitimate heir to the
throne,
Andreas Palaiologos , willed away his claim to Ferdinand and
Isabella in 1503.

After the independence and proclamation of the
EmpireEmpire of Brazil from
the Kingdom of Portugal by
PrincePrince Pedro , who became Emperor, in 1822,
his father,
KingKingJohn VI of PortugalJohn VI of Portugal briefly held the honorific style
of Titular
Emperor of BrazilEmperor of Brazil and the treatment of His Imperial and
Royal Majesty under the 1825 Treaty of
Rio de JaneiroRio de Janeiro , by which
Portugal recognized the independence of Brazil. The style of Titular
EmperorEmperor was a life title, and became extinct upon the holder's demise.
John VI held the imperial title for a few months only, from the
ratification of the Treaty in November 1825 until his death in March
1826. During those months, however, as John's imperial title was
purely honorific while his son, Pedro I, remained the sole monarch of
the Brazilian Empire.

In the late 3rd century, by the end of the epoch of the barracks
emperors in Rome, there were two Britannic Emperors , reigning for
about a decade. After the end of Roman rule in Britain , the Imperator
Cunedda forged the
Kingdom of GwyneddKingdom of Gwynedd in northern Wales, but all his
successors were titled kings and princes.

During the rule of Henry VIII an Act of Parliament declared that
'this realm of England is an Empire...governed by one Supreme Head and
KingKing having the dignity and royal estate of the imperial Crown of the
same'. This was in the context of the divorce of Catherine of Aragon
and the
English ReformationEnglish Reformation , to emphasize that England had never
accepted the quasi-imperial claims of the papacy. Hence England and,
by extension its modern successor state, the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Northern Ireland, is according to English law an Empire
ruled by a
KingKing endowed with the imperial dignity. However, this has
not led to the creation of the title of
EmperorEmperor in England or in the
United Kingdom itself.

In 1801, George III rejected the title of
EmperorEmperor when offered. The
only period when British monarchs held the title of
EmperorEmperor in a
dynastic succession started when the title Empress of India was
created for
Queen VictoriaQueen Victoria . The government led by Prime Minister
Benjamin Disraeli , conferred the additional title upon her by an Act
of Parliament, reputedly to assuage the monarch's irritation at being,
as a mere Queen, notionally inferior to her own daughter (Princess
Victoria , who was the wife of the reigning
German EmperorGerman Emperor ); the
Indian Imperial designation was also formally justified as the
expression of Britain succeeding the former
Mughal EmperorMughal Emperor as suzerain
over hundreds of princely states . The title was relinquished by
George VIGeorge VI when India became independent on 15 August 1947.

The last Empress of India was George VI's wife, Queen Elizabeth The
Queen Mother .

After his death he was succeeded by his son Frederick III who was
only emperor for 99 days. In the same year his son Wilhelm II became
the third emperor within a year. He was the last German emperor. After
the empire's defeat in World War I the empire ceased to exist.

In 1472, the niece of the last Byzantine emperor, Sophia Palaiologina
, married Ivan III , grand prince of Moscow, who began championing the
idea of Russia being the successor to the Byzantine Empire. This idea
was represented more emphatically in the composition the monk Filofej
addressed to their son Vasili III . After ending Muscovy's dependence
on its
MongolMongol overlords in 1480, Ivan III began the usage of the
titles
TsarTsar and Autocrat (samoderzhets ). His insistence on
recognition as such by the emperor of the Holy Roman
EmpireEmpire since 1489
resulted in the granting of this recognition in 1514 by Emperor
Maximilian I to Vasili III. His son Ivan IV emphatically crowned
himself
TsarTsar of Russia on 16 January 1547. The word "Tsar" derives
from Latin Caesar, but this title was used in Russia as equivalent to
"King"; the error occurred when medieval Russian clerics referred to
the biblical Jewish kings with the same title that was used to
designate Roman and Byzantine rulers — "Caesar".

On 31 October 1721, Peter I was proclaimed
EmperorEmperor by the Senate. The
title used was Latin "Imperator", which is a westernizing form
equivalent to the traditional Slavic title "Tsar". He based his claim
partially upon a letter discovered in 1717 written in 1514 from
Maximilian I to Vasili III, in which the
Holy Roman EmperorHoly Roman Emperor used the
term in referring to Vasili.

A formal address to the ruling Russian monarch adopted thereafter was
'Your Imperial Majesty'. The crown prince was addressed as 'Your
Imperial Highness'.

The title has not been used in Russia since the abdication of Emperor
Nicholas II on 15 March 1917.

Imperial Russia produced four reigning Empresses, all in the
eighteenth century.

In 1345, the Serbian
KingKing Stefan Uroš IV Dušan proclaimed himself
EmperorEmperor (
TsarTsar ) and was crowned as such at
SkopjeSkopje on
EasterEaster 1346 by
the newly created
Serbian Patriarch , and by the Patriarch of Bulgaria
and the autocephalous Archbishop of Ohrid. His imperial title was
recognized by
BulgariaBulgaria and various other neighbors and trading
partners but not by the Byzantine Empire. In its final simplified
form, the Serbian imperial title read "
EmperorEmperor of Serbs and Greeks"
(цар Срба и Грка in modern Serbian). It was only employed
by Stefan Uroš IV Dušan and his son Stefan Uroš V in
SerbiaSerbia (until
his death in 1371), after which it became extinct. A half-brother of
Dušan,
Simeon Uroš , and then his son
Jovan UrošJovan Uroš , claimed the same
title, until the latter's abdication in 1373, while ruling as dynasts
in
ThessalyThessaly . The "Greek" component in the Serbian imperial title
indicates both rulership over Greeks and the derivation of the
imperial tradition from the Romans.

EMPERORS IN THE AMERICAS

PRE-COLUMBIAN TRADITIONS

The Aztec and Inca traditions are unrelated to one another. Both were
conquered under the reign of
KingKingCharles I of SpainCharles I of Spain who was
simultaneously emperor-elect of the Holy Roman
EmpireEmpire during the fall
of the Aztecs and fully emperor during the fall of the Incas.
Incidentally by being king of Spain, he was also Roman (Byzantine)
emperor in pretence through
Andreas Palaiologos . The translations of
their titles were provided by the Spanish.

The only pre-Columbian South American rulers to be commonly called
emperors were the
Sapa Inca of the Inca
EmpireEmpire (1438–1533). Spanish
conquistador
Francisco Pizarro , conquered the Inca for Spain, killed
EmperorEmperorAtahualpaAtahualpa , and installed puppets as well.
AtahualpaAtahualpa may
actually be considered a usurper as he had achieved power by killing
his half-brother and he did not perform the required coronation with
the imperial crown mascaipacha by the Huillaq Uma (high priest).

After the fall of
NapoleonNapoleon I and the Liberal revolution in Portugal,
the Portuguese royal family returned to
EuropeEurope (1821).
PrincePrince Pedro of
Braganza (
KingKing João's older son) stayed in South America acting as
regent of the local kingdom, but, two years later in 1822, he
proclaimed himself Pedro I , first
Emperor of BrazilEmperor of Brazil . He did,
however, recognize his father, João VI, as Titular
EmperorEmperor of Brazil
—a purely honorific title—until João VI's death in 1826.

The empire came to an end in 1889, with the overthrow of Emperor
Pedro II (Pedro I's son and successor), when the Brazilian republic
was proclaimed.

In Mexico, the First Mexican
EmpireEmpire was the first of two empires
created. After the declaration of independence on September 15, 1821,
it was the intention of the Mexican parliament to establish a
commonwealth whereby the
KingKing of Spain, Ferdinand VII , would also be
Emperor of MexicoEmperor of Mexico , but in which both countries were to be governed by
separate laws and with their own legislative offices. Should the king
refuse the position, the law provided for a member of the House of
Bourbon to accede to the Mexican throne.

In
PersiaPersia , from the time of
Darius the GreatDarius the Great , Persian rulers used
the title "
KingKing of Kings " (Shahanshah in Persian) since they had
dominion over peoples from the borders of India to the borders of
Greece and Egypt.
AlexanderAlexander probably crowned himself shahanshah after
conquering Persia, bringing the phrase basileus toon basileoon to
Greek. It is also known that
Tigranes the GreatTigranes the Great , king of Armenia, was
named as the king of kings when he made his empire after defeating the
Parthians . Georgian title "mephet'mephe" has the same meaning.

The Sanskrit word for emperor is Samrāṭ (word stem: samrāj) or
Chakravarti. This word has been used as an epithet of various Vedic
deities, like Varuna, and has been attested in the Rig-Veda , possibly
the oldest compiled book among the Indo-Europeans. Chakravarti refers
to the king of kings. A Chakravarti is not only a sovereign ruler but
also has feudatories.

Typically, in the later Vedic age, a Hindu high king (Maharajah) was
only called Samrāṭ after performing the Vedic
RajasuyaRajasuya sacrifice,
enabling him by religious tradition to claim superiority over the
other kings and princes. Another word for emperor is sārvabhaumā.
The title of Samrāṭ has been used by many rulers of the Indian
subcontinent as claimed by the Hindu mythologies. In proper history,
most historians call
Chandragupta Maurya the first samrāṭ (emperor)
of the Indian subcontinent, because of the huge empire he ruled. The
most famous emperor was his grandson
Ashoka the GreatAshoka the Great . Other
dynasties that are considered imperial by historians are the Kushanas
, Guptas , Vijayanagara , Kakatiya , Hoysala and the Cholas .

After India was invaded by the
MongolMongol Khans and Turkic Muslims, the
rulers of their major states on the subcontinent were titled Sultān,
In this manner, the only empress-regnant ever to have actually sat on
the throne of Delhi was Razia
SultanSultan . The Mughal Emperors were the
only Indian rulers for whom the term was consistently used by Western
contemporaries. For the period from 1877 to 1947 when British Emperors
ruled
British IndiaBritish India as the pearl in the crown of the British Empire,
see above.

AFRICA

ETHIOPIA

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In
EthiopiaEthiopia , the
Solomonic dynastySolomonic dynasty used, beginning in 1270, the
title of "nəgusä nägäst" which is literally "
KingKing of Kings". The
use of the king of kings style began a millennium earlier in this
region, however, with the title being used by the Kings of Aksum ,
beginning with
Sembrouthes in the 3rd century. Another title used by
this dynasty was "Itegue Zetopia".

"Itegue" translates as Empress, and was also used by the only female
reigning Empress, Zauditu , along with the official title Negiste
Negest (Queen of Kings).

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The rulers of China and (once Westerners became aware of the role)
Japan were always accepted in the West as emperors, and referred to as
such. The claims of other
East AsianEast Asian monarchies to the title may have
been accepted for diplomatic purposes, but it was not necessarily used
in more general contexts.

The
East AsianEast Asian tradition is different from the Roman tradition,
having arisen separately. What links them together is the use of the
Chinese logographs 皇 (huáng) and 帝 (dì) which together or
individually are imperial. Because of the cultural influence of China,
China's neighbors adopted these titles or had their native titles
conform in hanzi . Anyone who spoke to the emperor was to address him
as bìxià (陛下, lit. the "Bottom of the Steps"), corresponding to
"Imperial Majesty "; shèngshàng (聖上, lit. Holy Highness); or
wànsuì (萬歲, lit. "You, of Ten Thousand Years").

In 221 BC, Ying Zheng , who was king of Qin at the time, proclaimed
himself
Shi HuangdiShi Huangdi (始皇帝), which translates as "first emperor".
Huangdi is composed of huang ("august one", 皇) and di ("sage-king",
帝), and referred to legendary/mythological sage-emperors living
several millennia earlier, of which three were huang and five were di.
Thus Zheng became
Qin Shi HuangQin Shi Huang , abolishing the system where the
huang/di titles were reserved to dead and/or mythological rulers.
Since then, the title "king" became a lower ranked title, and later
divided into two grades. Although not as popular, the title 王 wang
(king or prince) was still used by many monarchs and dynasties in
China up to the Taipings in the 19th century. 王 is pronounced
vương in Vietnamese, ō in Japanese, and wang in Korean.

The imperial title continued in China until the Qing
DynastyDynasty was
overthrown in 1912. The title was briefly revived from 12 December
1915 to 22 March 1916 by President
Yuan ShikaiYuan Shikai and again in early July
1917 when General Zhang Xun attempted to restore last Qing emperor
PuyiPuyi to the throne.
PuyiPuyi retained the title and attributes of a
foreign emperor, as a personal status, until 1924. After the Japanese
occupied
ManchuriaManchuria in 1931, they proclaimed it to be the
EmpireEmpire of
ManchukuoManchukuo , and
PuyiPuyi became emperor of Manchukuo. This empire ceased
to exist when it was occupied by the Soviet
Red ArmyRed Army in 1945.

In general, an emperor would have one empress (Huanghou, 皇后) at
one time, although posthumous entitlement to empress for a concubine
was not uncommon. The earliest known usage of huanghou was in the Han
DynastyDynasty . The emperor would generally select the empress from his
concubines . In subsequent dynasties, when the distinction between
wife and concubine became more accentuated, the crown prince would
have chosen an empress-designate before his reign. Imperial China
produced only one reigning empress,
Wu ZetianWu Zetian , and she used the same
Chinese title as an emperor (Huangdi, 皇帝).
Wu ZetianWu Zetian then reigned
for about 15 years (690–705 AD).

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In ancient Japan, the earliest titles for the sovereign were either
ヤマト大王/大君 (yamato ōkimi, Grand
KingKing of Yamato),
倭王/倭国王 (waō/wakokuō,
KingKing of Wa, used externally), or
治天下大王 (amenoshita shiroshimesu ōkimi, Grand
KingKing who rules
all under heaven, used internally). As early as the 7th century the
word 天皇 (which can be read either as sumera no mikoto, divine
order, or as tennō, Heavenly Emperor, the latter being derived from a
Tang Chinese term referring to the Pole star around which all other
stars revolve) began to be used. The earliest use of this term is
found on a wooden slat, or mokkan , unearthed in Asuka-mura, Nara
Prefecture in 1998. The slat dated back to the reign of
EmperorEmperor Tenmu
and
Empress JitōEmpress Jitō . The reading 'Tennō' has become the standard title
for the Japanese sovereign up to the present age. The term 帝
(mikado, Emperor) is also found in literary sources.

Japanese monarchs were given their official title by the Chinese
emperor. The new Japanese monarch after coming into power would send a
representative to China and receive the anointment. They would receive
their official title on several golden plates of several meters tall.
Since the Japanese monarchs changed their title to 天皇 (Heavenly
Emperor) in 607, the Chinese emperor refused to anoint the Japanese
king, thus, ending relations with Japan for the next few hundred
years. Although the Japanese emperors used Chinese imperial titles,,
rarely was the Chinese-style "Son of Heaven " used. In the Japanese
language, the word tennō is restricted to Japan's own monarch; kōtei
(皇帝) is used for foreign emperors. Historically, retired emperors
often kept power over a child-emperor as de facto regent. For a fairly
long time, a shōgun (formally the imperial generalissimo, but made
hereditary) or an imperial regent wielded actual political power. In
fact, through much of Japanese history, the emperor has been little
more than a figurehead.

After World War II, all claims of divinity were dropped (see
Ningen-sengen ). The Diet acquired all prerogative powers of the
Crown, reverting the latter to a ceremonial role. By the end of the
20th century, Japan was the only country with an emperor on the
throne.

Currently, many believe the new prince of Japan will ascend the
throne, as the law defines. Historically, Japan has had eight reigning
empresses who used the genderless title Tennō, rather than the female
consort title kōgō (皇后) or chūgū (中宮). There is ongoing
discussion of the
Japanese Imperial succession controversy . Although
current Japanese law prohibits female succession, all Japanese
emperors claim to trace their lineage to
AmaterasuAmaterasu , the Sun Goddess
of the Shintō religion . Thus, the
EmperorEmperor is thought to be the
highest authority of the
ShintoShinto religion, and one of his duties is to
perform
ShintoShinto rituals for the people of Japan.

The rulers of
GoguryeoGoguryeo (37 BC-668 AD) used the title of Taewang
(
HangulHangul : 태왕,
HanjaHanja :太王), literally translated as the Greatest
of the Kings. Also some
SillaSilla (57 BC-935 AD) rulers including
Beopheung and Jinheung used this title for their declaration of
independence from the influence of
GoguryeoGoguryeo .

The rulers of
BalhaeBalhae (698–926) internally called themselves
Seongwang (
HangulHangul : 성왕,
HanjaHanja : 聖王). In the 10th century,
Gwangjong of Goryeo took the title of emperor himself as a means of
enhancing the prestige of the monarchy, and it was first used in
Korea. Many Goryeo sovereign alternately used both supreme king and
emperor. After the Mongolian invasions (1231–1258), however, Korea
relinquished the imperial title.

In 1897,
KingKing Gojong proclaimed the founding of the Korean Empire
(1897–1910), and became emperor of Korea.
Emperor Gojong declared
the new era name "Gwangmu" (
HangulHangul : 광무,
HanjaHanja : 光武, Warrior
of light). The Korean
EmpireEmpire maintained their state until 1910 —
though it was an
EmpireEmpire by name, it was in fact in the process of
being absorbed by Japan.

MONGOLIA

Pre-
MongolMongol Kingdoms such as the Xiongnu used the title "Chanu"
meaning "Ruler of all" in old Mongolian. However it was not until the
Chanu name was dropped and instead replaced by "Khan" that the rulers
of Mongolia claimed the divine right as the ruler of all under the
blue sky, this rule was closely tied with the ancient religious
beliefs of the people of Mongolia (
TengrismTengrism ). The title
KhaganKhagan (khan
of khans or grand khan) was held by
Genghis KhanGenghis Khan , founder of the
MongolMongolEmpireEmpire in 1206. After 1271, the emperors of the Yuan Dynasty
also took the Chinese title huangdi, or Chinese emperor . Only the
Khagans from
Genghis KhanGenghis Khan to the fall of the Yuan
DynastyDynasty in 1368 are
normally referred to as Emperors in English.

Ngô Quyền, the first ruler of
Đại Việt as an independent
state, used the title Vương (王, King). However, after the death of
Ngô Quyền, the country immersed in a civil war known as Chaos of
the 12 Lords that lasted for over 20 years. In the end, Đinh Bộ
Lĩnh unified the country after defeating all the warlords and became
the first ruler of
Đại Việt to use the title Hoàng Đế
(皇帝, Emperor) in 968. Succeeding rulers in Vietnam then continued
to use this
EmperorEmperor title until 1806 when this title was stopped being
used for a century.

Đinh Bộ Lĩnh wasn't the first to claim the title of Đế (帝,
Emperor). Before him,
Lý Bí and
Mai Thúc Loan also claimed this
title. However, their rules were very short lived.

The Vietnamese emperors also gave this title to their ancestors who
were lords or influence figures in the previous dynasty like the
Chinese emperors. This practice is one of many indications of the idea
"Vietnam's equality with China" which remained intact up to the
twentieth century.

In 1802 the newly established Nguyễn dynasty requested canonization
from Chinese
Jiaqing EmperorJiaqing Emperor and received the title Quốc Vương
(國王,
KingKing of a State) and the name of the country as An Nam
(安南) instead
Đại Việt (大越). To avoid unnecessary armed
conflicts, the Vietnamese rulers accepted this in diplomatic relation
and use the title
EmperorEmperor only domestically. However, Vietnamese
rulers never accepted the vassalage relationship with China and always
refused to come to Chinese courts to pay homage to Chinese rulers (a
sign of vassalage acceptance). China waged a number of wars against
Vietnam throughout history, and after each failure, settled for the
tributary relationship. The Yuan dynasty under
Kublai KhanKublai Khan waged three
wars against Vietnam to force it into a vassalage relationship but
after successive failures,
Kublai KhanKublai Khan 's successor,
Temür Khan ,
finally settled for a tributary relationship with Vietnam. Vietnam
sent tributary missions to China once in three years (with some
periods of disruptions) until the 19th century,
Sino-French WarSino-French War France
replaced China in control of northern Vietnam.

The emperors of the last dynasty of Vietnam continued to hold this
title until the French conquered Vietnam. The emperor, however, was
then a puppet figure only and could easily be disposed of by the
French for more pro-France figure. Japan took Vietnam from France and
the Axis -occupied Vietnam was declared an empire by the Japanese in
March 1945. The line of emperors came to an end with
Bảo Đại ,
who was deposed after the war, although he later served as head of
state of
South VietnamSouth Vietnam from 1949-55.